The Watchtower, April 15, 1965
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The Watchtower — April 15, 1965
Source: jw.org
Contents
“This Is Our God”
This Is the Word of God
The Coming Banquet for All the Peoples
Accepting the Invitation to the Banquet
Babylon’s Fall Turns the Tide of History
The Joy of Sharing God’s Truths
Questions From Readers
Announcements
“This Is Our God”
“This Is Our God”
OUR God is invisible, and, therefore, has never been seen by human eyes. “No man has seen God at any time,” the inspired Bible writer explained. ‘If that is so,’ one may ask, ‘then how can you be sure that an unseen God actually exists?’ Because of conclusive evidence to this effect.—John 1:18.
Just as a physically blind person has sufficient reason to believe that there is a sun, so there is substantial reason for believing that an invisible God exists. We do not have to see him to know that he is, anymore than we need to see the wind to know when it blows. Many years ago a well-educated Oriental reasoned soundly on this matter, and wrote: “For [God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.”—Rom. 1:20.
The things that we see—such as our own marvelous human body, its miraculous powers of reproduction, the fantastic size and orderliness of the universe, and so forth—supply irrefutable evidence that there are power and intelligence superior to man’s. One of the most gifted humans intellectually, the late scientist Albert Einstein, once said that it was enough for him “to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifest in nature.” The intelligence, orderliness and design manifest in the things made testify that a Mighty Creator exists. We are glad to acknowledge this Great One as our God.
RESPONSIBLE FATHER
Our God is a responsible Father. He is not, as some people seem to believe, an unidentifiable principle that initiated laws by which lower organisms would evolve into humans. Rather, as his chief Son Jesus Christ explained: God “who created them from the beginning made them male and female.” Yes, the first man and woman were God’s children, his specific creations, and he showed interest in them by providing this beautiful, perfectly designed earth for their home. How unlike some earthly men who father illegitimate children and then desert them!—Matt. 19:4; Gen. 1:27; 2:7.
Almighty God is still interested in mankind, and recognizes those who worship him as his children. Therefore, it is only proper that a person should respond to this interest and seek to learn about God. Only if one does can he pray with meaning and understanding the way Jesus instructed in the famous model prayer: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come.” It is because we are grateful to know our Father’s identity that we humbly address him as did his prophet long ago: “O Jehovah, you, are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our Potter; and all of us are the work of your hand.”—Matt. 6:9, 10; Isa. 64:8.
Yes, God’s name is Jehovah, and we are glad to use his name, for we are proud of our Father. We desire, as did the Bible psalmist, “that people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” This great God of ours is not a mystery whom it is impossible for us to understand. He is the same God to whom Jesus raised his eyes, looking heavenward, and made his petition: “Father, . . . glorify your son.”—Ps. 83:18; John 17:1, 6.
On another occasion Jesus described his Father in these clear, simple terms: “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” So God is not an unexplainable trinity, consisting of several persons in one divine essence. He is Jesus’ God, the one whom Jesus worships. He is also our God and Father. We, too, can love and worship him, and, if we do, he will show mercy toward us. So in heartfelt appreciation we say: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.”—Mark 12:29; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.
NOT A MAN OR AN IDOL
This Father of ours is not a man, nor was he ever a man on earth who was later deified. “I am God and not man,” he says. Jesus explained that “God is a Spirit.” Unlike men, God does not have a body of flesh and blood, but he is an invisible Personage.—Hos. 11:9; John 4:24.
Since he is a Spirit, Jehovah is not, at the same time, a lifeless image of wood or stone. “Our God is in the heavens,” the Bible psalmist explains. On the other hand, the gods of the nations “are silver and gold, the work of the hands of earthling man.” The psalmist then argues convincingly that these idols are utterly worthless, saying: “A mouth they have, but they cannot speak; eyes they have, but they cannot see; ears they have, but they cannot hear. A nose they have, but they cannot smell. Hands are theirs, but they cannot feel. Feet are theirs, but they cannot walk; they utter no sound with their throat. Those making them will become just like them.” How foolish to put one’s trust in such lifeless images!—Ps. 115:3-8; Isa. 44:14-20.
A prophet of God once showed the worthlessness of idols by comparing their powers with those of Jehovah. He asked: “Do there exist among the vain idols of the nations any that can pour down rain, or can even the heavens themselves give copious showers? Are you not the One, O Jehovah our God? And we hope in you, for you yourself have done all these things.” Yes, it is our God Jehovah who is able to act and accomplish things. He is the one who deserves your praise.—Jer. 14:22.
So why not respond? “Shout in triumph to God, all you people of the earth. Make melody to the glory of his name. Render his praise glorious. Say to God: ‘How fear-inspiring your works are! . . . ’ Bless our God, O you peoples, and cause the voice of praise to him to be heard.” We welcome you to join in praising our God Jehovah.—Ps. 66:1-3, 8.
UNSURPASSED IN WISDOM
“Raise your eyes high up and see,” God invites. “Who has created these things?” (Isa. 40:26) Yes, look into the heavens and see the stars scattered above like sparkling diamonds. Not only are they indescribably beautiful, but they travel in their courses with such regularity that man sets his most accurate timepieces by their movements. This is what impressed astronaut John Glenn. “It is the orderliness of the whole universe about us,” he said, “galaxies millions of light-years across, all traveling in prescribed orbits in relation to one another.” What wisdom the Designer of this marvelous universe possesses!
Do not his creations cause you to want to praise him? “O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth,” the shepherd David of Bethlehem long ago was moved to sing. “When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is mortal man that you keep him in mind?” These are also our sentiments. How insignificant humans are when compared with the all-wise Creator of heaven and earth!—Ps. 8:1, 3, 4; 19:1, 2.
Just look around and observe the wisdom with which God designed our earthly home. What matchless beauty there is! Can anything compare with the glorious sunsets, snowcapped mountains, sandy beaches, green valleys, rushing rivers and colorful flowers? Take a deep breath of air. It is of just the right composition of gases to sustain life. How appropriate that man absorbs oxygen from the air but returns carbon dioxide, while plants take in the carbon dioxide, utilize it in producing life-sustaining products and return oxygen to the atmosphere!
Everywhere around us such wisdom is manifest. Observe the miracle of growth. How wonderful is the way tiny seeds bloom into glorious arrays of fragrant blossoms! Taste the marvelous variety of delicious foods. Feel the warmth of the sun. Listen to the delightful songs of birds. No wonder the appreciative psalmist sang: “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions.”—Ps. 104:24; Prov. 3:19.
And what of the greatest masterpiece of God’s earthly productions—man himself? With what wisdom our minds and bodies are constructed! How beyond comprehension is the reproductive process, whereby one infinitesimally small male sperm unites with a female egg to develop, according to God’s masterful design, into a living, breathing human creature! (Ps. 139:14-18) Does not the wisdom of our God recommend him as the One whom we should worship? Therefore, accept the invitation: “O come in, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasturage and the sheep of his hand.”—Ps. 95:6, 7.
Although Jehovah’s infinite wisdom recommends him as a God worthy of our worship, his boundless love makes him even more desirable to us.
ABUNDANT IN LOVE
Jehovah God showed love by taking on the responsibility of fathering earthly children. The exceptional quality of his love was demonstrated by providing this beautiful earth as their home and settling the first human pair in a gorgeously prepared section of it. Even when Adam and Eve rebelled against him, Jehovah continued to manifest his love by permitting them to live for a time so that we and the rest of mankind could come into existence and learn of his grand provisions. It is true that allowing sinful creatures to live has resulted in much trouble on earth, and even though wicked angels and evilly inclined men are the ones responsible, our loving Creator has often been the one unjustly blamed. Nevertheless, he has borne the reproach, and has continued to shower blessings on mankind.—Gen. 2:8, 9, 15; 3:16-19; Deut. 32:4, 5; Rev. 12:9.
Jesus Christ drew attention to these blessings from our Father when he said: “He makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.” An apostle of Jesus also pointed to this loving care for mankind, crediting God with giving “rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer.”—Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17.
But in addition to these loving provisions for man’s present needs, our God has mercifully provided for obedient humans to enjoy everlasting life. Think of it! God’s original purpose to have his earthly children enjoy a paradise home forever will be realized. Already he has made arrangements to relieve man of sin by sending his beloved heavenly Son to earth as a ransom. Concerning this provision the Bible explains: “By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness.”—Eph. 1:7; Acts 13:38.
What a wonderful demonstration of love for mankind! “God loved the world [of mankind] so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” How grateful we are! Because of the intervention of God’s mercy the hope of everlasting life in happiness is opened to all mankind.—John 3:16.
Do not these loving provisions of our God endear him to you? Indeed, “Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness.” You can go to him in prayer, and “throw all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.” O how his love recommends him to us! Yet, at the same time, God’s love and mercy are perfectly balanced by his justice.—Ps. 103:8-14; 1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 55:22.
A LOVER OF JUSTICE
His dealings are in complete harmony with this inspired description of him: “Perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; righteous and upright is he.” As we would expect of such a just ruler, his laws and commandments are not harsh or burdensome, nor does he exploit mankind. However, God does require obedience, and when persons become hardened in a course of evildoing, his justice requires due punishment. He himself tells us: “I, Jehovah, am loving justice, hating robbery along with unrighteousness. And I will give their wages in trueness.”—Deut. 32:4; Isa. 61:8.
We can be confident that when God metes out wages his justice will be tempered with mercy. Jehovah takes no delight in killing anyone, but, in fact, pleads with evildoers: “Turn back, turn back from your bad ways, for why is it that you should die?” It is because of this patience and kindness of our God that many persons have wrongly concluded that he does not notice unrighteousness, and will never execute justice against evildoers. But his inspired Word shows how wrong they are.—Ezek. 33:11; Zeph. 1:12; Ps. 10:13.
The Scriptures prove conclusively that God does observe. “The One planting the ear, can he not hear? Or the One forming the eye, can he not look?” Of course he can, and, in time, he will execute justice, as the Bible psalmist goes on to show: “Jehovah is knowing the thoughts of men . . . And he will turn back upon them their hurtfulness and will silence them with their own calamity. Jehovah our God will silence them.” Happily, we are fast approaching the day when Jehovah God will clean this earth of all unrighteousness. How grateful we can be that our God is a lover of justice!—Ps. 94:6-23; 37:9-11.
MATCHLESS IN POWER
Jehovah also has unlimited power. Not only does Jehovah possess the power to destroy evildoers; he also has the ability to preserve his servants alive into a righteous new order. He demonstrated this long ago by wiping out a wicked system of things by a global flood and delivering righteously disposed Noah and his family into a cleansed earth. Showing the significance of that deliverance, Jesus Christ said: “Just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be.” This, therefore, is an assurance that God will protect his people when he soon brings destruction upon this wicked system of things.—Matt. 24:37; 2 Pet. 2:9.
Our God will then demonstrate his power in behalf of the survivors by initiating a miraculous program of physical healing. The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, the lame will climb up just like a stag, the sick will be healed and the aged will grow progressively younger until once again they enjoy the vigor of youth. O what a happy time that will be! But what about those who have died during the past centuries of human history? Will they be denied these blessings? Jesus Christ supplied the answer when he said: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out.” Think of that! Resurrection from the dead!—John 5:28, 29.
Do you wonder whether God has the power to perform these miracles? Well, stop and reason. Do not miracles occur every day? What happens when a seemingly lifeless seed, perhaps of corn, is placed in the ground? Why, in a few days it pushes upward and, in time, golden ears of corn appear on the stalk. Can man make a seed grow? Does he even understand the secret of growth? Of course not! It is a miracle! Yet God is responsible for similar miracles occurring all the time. One cuts his finger, and the wound miraculously heals. A person eats some food and before long it is transformed into flesh, bones, hair, nails and other body materials. God’s works are truly wonderful!
Therefore, is there not every reason to believe that God can also resurrect the dead and restore ailing mankind to perfect life? Yes, most certainly! Not only is He unsurpassed in wisdom, abundant in love and a lover of justice, but our God Jehovah is also matchless in power, truly a miracle-working God. For these reasons, we invite you to join with us as we “walk in the name of Jehovah our God to time indefinite, even forever.”—Mic. 4:5.
Praise Jah, you people, for it is good to make melody to our God; For it is pleasant—praise is fitting. He is healing the brokenhearted ones, and is binding up their painful spots. He is counting the number of the stars; all of them he calls by their names. Our Lord is great and is abundant in power; his understanding is beyond recounting. Jehovah is relieving the meek ones; he is abasing the wicked ones to the earth. Respond to Jehovah with thanksgiving, you people; make melody to our God on the harp, the One who is covering the heavens with clouds, the One preparing rain for the earth, the One making the mountains to sprout green grass. To the beasts he is giving their food, to the young ravens that keep calling. Jehovah is finding pleasure in those fearing him, in those waiting for his loving-kindness.—Ps 147:1, 3-9, 11.
This Is the Word of God
This Is the Word of God
SINCE our God is a loving Father, it is only to be expected that he would give spiritual instruction and guidance to his children. But how can we be sure that the Bible is his Word? Do we have any assurance that it is trustworthy and reliable?
Yes, we do, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in prayer to his Father affirmed: “Your word is truth.” Truth indeed marks all the Word of God, because it was written, not out of human invention or origin, but under the direction of the holy spirit of our God. That is why “all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial.”—John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21.
Many worldly authorities have commented about the Bible’s sure marks of authenticity. One of these was the famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton, who, as a critic of ancient writings, examined the Holy Scriptures and concluded: “I find more sure marks of authenticity in the New Testament than in any profane history whatever.”a And a noted archaeologist, W. F. Albright, wrote in his book Archaeology and Israel: “No major contention of Scripture has been proved unhistorical.” As to small details such as chronological and geographical statements in the Bible, Professor R. D. Wilson writes in A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament: “Whenever there is sufficient documentary evidence to make an investigation, the statements of the Bible in the original text have stood the test. . . . The chronological and geographical statements are more accurate and reliable than those afforded by any other ancient documents.”
Though other books may be historically accurate, none can equal the Word of God. Although written by nearly forty different persons over a long period of about 1,600 years, its various parts fit together like the parts of a fine watch. Truly evidence that it has one Divine Author! Unlike other books that form the basis of the great religions, it alone traces man’s history from his creation in perfection to his fall into sin, down to the present and on into the glorious future.
Moreover, on whatever subject the Bible speaks, even on scientific matters, it never goes out of date. It endorses no scientific errors that were common at the time of its being written; it does not state that the earth is flat or that it is the center of the universe. Rather, it speaks of the earth as being round and hung upon nothing. (Isa. 40:22; Job 26:7) An astronomer, P. W. Stoner, had this to say about the Bible: “Although Genesis was written thousands of years ago, every reference to astronomy in this first chapter is corroborated by the best of our present scientific information. And yet we note that books of astronomy, written 25 years ago or more, are full of serious errors and anything written more than a few hundred years ago would be suitable only for the entertainment of the reader.”b
With good reason, then, an apostle of Jesus Christ wrote to the Thessalonian Christians: “When you received God’s word, . . . you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God.”—1 Thess. 2:13.
A BOOK OF NEVER-FAILING PROPHECIES
One of the many assurances that the Bible is worthy of our absolute confidence is prophecy. For the Bible is not just a Book of accurate history but also a Book of history written in advance! It is a Book of never-failing prophecies. Bible prophecy is not vague but so specific that it even named individuals before they were born.
The prophet Isaiah, for instance, foretold that Babylon would fall to one named Cyrus. And long before this Cyrus had been born, prophecy also foretold that the river gates of Babylon would be left open to him and that he would capture the city. (Isa. 45:1, 2) The writing of Isaiah’s prophecy was finished about 732 B.C.E. Its fulfillment came in 539 B.C.E., when Cyrus the Persian took Babylon, the river gates of the city being left open as foretold by Isaiah about two hundred years earlier.
There are many more prophecies whose fulfillment is recorded by Bible writers. As an example, Joshua foretold that the man who would rebuild the city of Jericho would lay the foundation at the forfeit of his firstborn and put up its doors at the forfeit of his youngest. (Josh. 6:26) That was spoken in 1473 B.C.E. More than 500 years later, in the days of King Ahab of Israel, the Bible reports that Hiel built Jericho at the forfeit of Abiram his firstborn and put up its doors at the forfeit of Segub his youngest, “according to Jehovah’s word that he spoke by means of Joshua.”—1 Ki. 16:34.
The fulfillment of a number of prophecies, if not recorded in the Word of God, are obvious facts of history or are recorded by secular historians. In the eighth century B.C.E. Isaiah foretold that wicked “Babylon, the decoration of kingdoms, . . . must become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited.” (Isa. 13:19, 20) One authority says: “More thorough destruction than that which has overtaken Babylon cannot well be conceived.”c
A similar prophecy is that of Zephaniah’s against bloodguilty Nineveh: “He will make Nineveh a desolate waste.” (Zeph. 2:13) Has that prophecy, written before 648 B.C.E., been fulfilled? The facts of history show that Nineveh fell to the Chaldeans and Medes about 633 B.C.E. and later became a mound of ruins. Historians have noted that “when Xenophon and his retreating Greek army passed [Nineveh] in 401 BC it was already an unrecognizable mass of debris.”d
Before 607 B.C.E. God’s prophet Jeremiah foretold that Jerusalem, yes, “all this land must become a devastated place” for seventy years. (Jer. 25:11; 29:10) That prophecy was fulfilled when Jerusalem lay desolate for seventy years following its destruction in 607 B.C.E., after which, as also foretold, a remnant of Jews returned to their homeland in 537 B.C.E. This was, says the Jewish historian Josephus, “in the first year of the reign of Cyrus, which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon.”e
Most remarkable of all, however, are the many prophecies relative to the coming of the Messiah, who was to provide a ransom for man’s sins. For example, the prophecy of Micah states: “You, O Bethlehem . . . from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel.” (Mic. 5:2) That prophecy was written before 716 B.C.E. More than 700 years later, or in 2 B.C.E., Jesus Christ was “born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,” in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy. (Matt. 2:1-6) According to one authority this is just one of more than three hundred distinct prophecies, all of which received remarkable fulfillment in Jesus Christ.f
Jesus Christ himself uttered many Bible prophecies that received striking fulfillment. For instance, he told Jerusalem that enemies would build around Jerusalem “a fortification with pointed stakes and will encircle you” and “will not leave a stone upon a stone in you.” (Luke 19:43, 44) Spoken in 33 C.E., that prophecy was fulfilled in 70 C.E. when Rome’s armies under Titus surrounded Jerusalem and encircled it with a wall or “fortification with pointed stakes,” exactly as Jesus had prophesied thirty-seven years earlier. Because of this encircling wall, Josephus reported, “All hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews.”g Demolition of the city by Rome’s armies accords with the ‘archaeological evidences of thorough destruction of Jewish buildings all over the land.’h
Then there are those many Bible prophecies that are undergoing fulfillment today, such as those pointing forward to the “last days,” or Christ’s second presence, at which time there would be “on the earth anguish of nations” and “critical times hard to deal with,” because of a moral breakdown in public and private life. Our own eyes can behold the fulfilling of these prophecies.—Luke 21:25, 26; 2 Tim. 3:1-5, 12, 13; Matt. 24:3, 7, 11, 12, 14.
DIVINE WINDOW TO THE FUTURE
So there is much prophecy in the Bible dealing with our day and even beyond! Many thrilling prophecies relate to what God is going to do on behalf of obedient mankind by means of his heavenly kingdom. Thus the Bible is a divine window to the future. As you read its prophecies, you will realize what a grand future awaits those who look to the kingdom of God. Would you like to live on a Paradise earth under that kingdom where there will be real security, with no threats to your home, your life and the life of your children? Well, then, here is what Bible prophecy shows that the future holds:
“Here I am creating new heavens and a new earth. . . . And they will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance. . . . The wolf and the lamb themselves will feed as one, and the lion will eat straw just like the bull.”—Isa. 65:17, 21-25.
That hope-inspiring prophecy cannot fail. Imagine a new system of things in which all threats to your security are removed! All will have their own homes with no threat of losing them. Today many own homes but because of threats to employment, high taxes or other reasons, they never really feel secure. Many have lost homes because they are not able to keep up payments. But in God’s New Order one will not need to fear losing his home and the land, with its fruit trees and vineyards, flowers and gardens, that he has made beautiful. Nor will parents fear that their children will grow up to be sent off to fight and die in wars or meet a tragic end because of crime and violence in the world. Violence and disturbance will be things of the past!
Moreover, never again will mankind need to fear the wild animal creation, for God’s sure word of prophecy assures us that even the wolf and the lamb will get along peacefully, that the lion will be no threat to domestic animals. Looking into the future by means of the divine window, God’s Word, we read this promise: “I shall certainly conclude a covenant in that day in connection with the wild beast of the field and with the flying creature of the heavens and the creeping thing of the ground, and the bow and the sword and war I shall break out of the land, and I will make them lie down in security.” (Hos. 2:18) Unlike the promises of politicians, that divine promise will never disappoint you.
To learn more about the soul-stirring blessings that God’s kingdom will bring to mankind, do not miss the feature article in this issue, “The Coming Banquet for All the Peoples.” As you read that article and the grand hope it presents, keep in mind that no prophecy in the Word of God ever fails. The God of heaven and earth assures us: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”—Isa. 55:11.
WALK IN GOD’S WAYS NOW
Seeing what wonderful prospects our heavenly Father holds out to those who walk in his ways, how should we respond to all this? Should we not want to become more acquainted with our God and his Word? Yes, we will want to study it, not just listen to others speak about it. We will want to prove to ourselves all these things, making our hope certain. We do well to imitate those persons commended in the Bible because they ‘carefully examined the Scriptures daily.’ (Acts 17:11) By such regular, daily Bible study, you will learn God’s will and his ways.
We will want to respond to God’s love further, not only by study of his Word, but by applying all this divine instruction in our lives. His own Word tells us: “The conclusion of the matter . . . is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man.” (Eccl. 12:13) So we need to familiarize ourselves with those commandments, obeying them so that the Word of God is at work in us.
Putting the Word of God to work in our lives means also to obey those commandments about God’s kingdom. Jesus Christ, God’s foremost Prophet, foretold a great publicity work for our day when he said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) So God’s will is that the greatest publicity possible be given to his kingdom. This is being done, not just by printed word, but by the spoken word, by word of mouth. If you really put the written Word of God to work in your life, you will want to respond to the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ and loyally support his kingdom by being an outspoken advocate of it to others.
The Holy Bible—this alone is the Word of God! Only by studying it and applying it in your life can you do the will of God so as to walk in his ways forever.
[Footnotes]
The Union Bible Companion (Philadelphia, Pa.; 1871) S. A. Allibone, pp. 29, 30.
Modern Science and Christian Faith (Wheaton, Ill. 1950), by members of The American Scientific Affiliation p.22.
Cyclopædia (New York; 1882), M’Clintock and Strong, Vol. I, p. 596.
The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Mich; 1963), J. D. Douglas, editor, p. 889.
Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, Chap. 1, ¶1; see also The Bible As History (New York; 1956), Werner Keller, p. 313.
Archaeology and Bible History (Wheaton, Ill.; 1950), Joseph P. Free, p. 284.
Wars of the Jews, Book V, chapter 12, ¶2, 3.
The Bible and Archaeology (Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1962), J. A. Thompson, p. 299.
The Coming Banquet for All the Peoples
The Coming Banquet for All the Peoples
“And Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow, of wine kept on the dregs, filtered.”—Isa. 25:6.
1. Rather than enjoying a banquet, what is the world as a whole experiencing?
THE world as a whole is not enjoying any banquet of rich foods and drink now. Rather, the world is getting hungrier year by year. This dangerous fact is continually being pointed up by the reports published of famines, food shortages and undernourishment in large areas of the inhabited earth.
2. For what reasons is India a pointed example of this?
2 For example, disquieting reports have been coming from that great subcontinent of India. Newspaper headlines of October 10, 1964, read “INDIA’S GRIM CAPITAL—Food Shortages and Water Pollution Aggravate Tempers and Peril Health.” (New York Times) Earlier, or on August 2, 1964, the headlines read: “Hunger Grows in India—Major Crisis in the Nation Is Feared as Population Growth Outpaces That of Food Production.” This is not due to a shortage of farmers. Of India’s 450,000,000 people more than four-fifths live in the rural sections. Owing to improved methods and equipment, the Indian farmers produce more, but the yearly crop of Indian babies is too much for them. It is of little comfort now to millions that India’s Food Minister predicted in Parliament that India would be able to feed herself by the end of the fourth five-year plan in 1971. For many persons that remains to be seen.—New York Times, September 11 and August 16, 1964.
3. What are indications on the matter of poverty in the United States of North America?
3 “This Rich World of Ours Faces Famine” is the way an American Socialist newspaper headlined an article, under date of September 19, 1964. Even in the United States of America it is reported that widespread poverty exists in certain regions. Back in 1960 the late President John F. Kennedy was reported to have said: “The facts are that seventeen million Americans go to bed hungry every night.” This meant about one-tenth of the country’s total population back there. Four years later a $950-million antipoverty bill was approved by the American Congress, and, at the time, President Lyndon B. Johnson said: “This Administration, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.”
4. What warnings have been sounded by British historian Toynbee and Pope Paul VI?
4 Back in 1959 the British historian Dr. Arnold J. Toynbee, when speaking before the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in Rome, said that the peoples of the world will have to keep the growth of the population under control. Mankind must do this, he said, if it “is now going to save itself from the casualties formerly inflicted upon it by pestilence and war.” He warned: “Sooner or later, food production will reach its limit.” (New York Times, November 3, 1959) In the first Christmas message that the ruler of Vatican State, Pope Paul VI, delivered on December 23, 1963, he agreed that the world’s leading problem is that of putting an end to physical hunger, but he was not willing to have Roman Catholics help solve the problem by birth control, which control he termed “illicit.”
5. During the past several years what has happened to the world population, and what is foreseen for it by 2000 C.E.?
5 The increase in the world’s population each year has come to be so great that it has been called a “world population explosion.” Back in 1961 the world population went up by 50 million. But now the year’s increase is 63,000,000, according to a report to the United Nations in 1964. It reported that the world population is gaining at a record rate; the annual rate of increase is rising. Not only in Asia, where almost half of mankind live, is the growth very great, but in Latin America the population, which was at 200,000,000 last year, is growing so rapidly that it is expected to double in twenty years; and the study made by the United Nations estimates that by the end of this century it will rise to from 625,000,000 to 750,000,000. In fact, that United Nations study sees the people of the entire world doubling by the year 2000 C.E., getting near to six billion or even past that.
6. What causes the trouble about this situation, and since World War II what has the world situation come to be as regards hunger?
6 The trouble about this situation is that the increase in the number of people is exceeding that of food production. In 1963-1964 there was a record production of several commodities and increase in many harvests, but this increase in food production was too small to counterbalance the growth of the world’s population. So the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported from Rome, Italy, last September 11. Some time earlier the Director General of the F.A.O. said that, because of this imbalance between world population growth and food production increase since the second world war, “up to half of the world’s population, 1,500 millions, suffer from hunger or malnutrition or both.”—New York Times, as of September 12, 1964, and November 20, 1963.
7-9. (a) What, then, is the greatest danger threatening mankind, of its own making? (b) According to columnist Arthur Krock, what is the “most dangerous bomb of all,” and in what respects?
7 What, then, is the greatest danger that threatens mankind at its own hands? Not warfare with nuclear bombs and bacteriological and radiological weapons, but this food problem due to the world’s rapid population growth. Even though a third world war never came, this food problem would remain and grow worse till the breaking point was reached. This danger was warned against by the well-known columnist Arthur Krock, in an article entitled “The Most Dangerous Bomb of All.” He said:
8 “In the rush of the great nations to produce nuclear weapons capable of agonizing mass destruction. . . , their Governments have paid small attention to the limitation of a more dangerous instrument for the destruction of civilization that is swiftly being assembled. The social scientists have named this weapon ‘the population bomb,’ . . . The Population Reference Bureau . . . has been laboring ever since to awaken the people of the world to their self-produced menace which in maturity can infest the planet with . . . ‘billions of half-alive starving peasants, condemned to short, miserable lives of hatred and hunger.’ . . . The ‘more than half of the world’s population’ that live in crowded areas, ‘disease-ridden, poverty-stricken, illiterate,’ are on the verge of a population explosion, wrote Professor Notestein.”
9 Later, columnist Krock, under the heading “Chief Problem on Earth Gets Some Attention,” wrote: “The formulae for a glowing future . . . omit even mention of a trend which, if unregulated, will crowd the planet by 2000 A.D. with millions more people than its resources can provide for. This problem has been aptly termed ‘the population bomb’, because it has the explosive potential of doubling the number of inhabitants of countries which cannot decently house, feed, employ, etc., those they have. . . . ‘Not talking about it because it is controversial and uncomfortable is a luxury . . . we cannot afford.’”—New York Times, as of October 2 and November 13, 1959.
10. Is our talking about a “coming banquet for all the peoples” therefore unreasonable, and what fact affects our answering aright?
10 Certainly in the face of such world trends our talking here about a “coming banquet for all the peoples” seems unreasonable. But is it? Of course, if treating all the peoples of earth with a banquet depended upon the combined food producers, the politicians, the religious leaders, the sociologists and the scientists, the prediction of such a banquet would seem farfetched. However, it does not depend upon men who, since the year 1914, have been caught in an “anguish of nations, not knowing the way out,” as Jesus Christ predicted nineteen centuries ago. (Luke 21:25) It depends upon the Almighty God, the Creator of us and of the planet on which we live. In his loving-kindness toward his human creation Almighty God has promised this banquet of good things to eat and drink. He has had this promise put down in writing, so that we can read it with our own eyes. He put his name to this promise and for the honor of his name he must make it good.
11. What question is it therefore fitting for us to ask ourselves, and why?
11 God never failed in even one of his promises that was due to be fulfilled before now. Because of his reliability, he will not fail in his promise to provide a banquet for all the peoples. So the question for each one of us to ask ourselves in all seriousness is, Will I accept God’s invitation to that banquet? One way by which to show whether you will accept his invitation is your being willing, your being interested enough, to listen now to the good news about it. Are you?
TIME OF ITS FULFILLMENT
12, 13. What promise does Jehovah make in Isaiah 25:6 and what question arises as to the location?
12 Then let us take the Holy Bible and turn to the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter twenty-five, verse six, and read this inspired promise in God’s own name: “And Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow, of wine kept on the dregs, filtered.”
13 Let us note, please, that Jehovah of armies has promised to prepare this rich banquet at a place that he calls “this mountain.” There are many mountains on the earth, but which one is this? It is the one in which Jehovah of armies is most interested.
14. Which mountain does Isaiah 24:23 identify as the one, and why will moon and sun become ashamed of themselves, as it were?
14 Hebrew was the language in which Jehovah God first gave his announcement of a banquet for all the peoples, and in less than ten lines above this verse (Isa. 25:6) in the Hebrew text he names the very mountain where the banquet will be made. There we read these words about God’s kingdom: “And the full moon has become abashed, and the glowing sun has become ashamed, for Jehovah of armies has become king in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and in front of his elderly men with glory.” (Isa. 24:23) So glorious will be God’s kingdom that the gleaming full moon will not be able to compare with it in glory, nor even the glowing sun at high noon. They will, so to speak, become ashamed of themselves.
15, 16. Are people right in not looking to Zionism or the present-day earthly Jerusalem for the promised banquet, and why is the correct answer so?
15 At the mere mention of Mount Zion, many persons might think that this has something to do with “Zionism,” but they are wrong. This has nothing to do with the modern movement called Zionism, which was begun as a political movement by Jews throughout the earth in 1897 but which not even all Jews believe in or support.
16 Neither does this have anything to do with the Jerusalem of today, as the ancient walled city is now a Moslem possession and the modern city to the west, outside the walled city, is a Jewish city, the capital of the Republic of Israel. Also, as regards the original Mount Zion, on which stood the city of David, this is not inside the walls of the present-day Moslem city of Jerusalem although it still belongs to the Moslem kingdom of Jordan. So the people in general are right in not looking to the political movement of the Zionists or the present-day Jerusalem for the enjoyment of God’s promised banquet for all the peoples.
17. Why is there doubt about the value of this promise of a banquet today, and who helps us to locate the time of its application?
17 Could there, then, be another Mount Zion and another Jerusalem to which to look for the realization of God’s promise of making a banquet for all the peoples? It is a long time since God made the promise. God made the promise through his prophet Isaiah about the year 732 before our Common Era began; which means about 2,696 years ago, Isaiah’s book of prophecy being finished about then. How do we know whether this hoary prophecy has any value today? How can we be sure that this prophecy of a banquet applies to our time or to the near future? Happily the voice of inspiration or the pen of inspiration helps us to get the satisfactory answer to the question. How so? Well, one of the inspired Bible writers was the Christian apostle named Paul. He, in particular, gives us the inspired key to the right answer.
18. How does that man get tied up with enabling us to locate the prophecy’s time of fulfillment?
18 This man Paul, who became a Christian after Jesus died and was resurrected in the year 33 of our Common Era, wrote an inspired letter to the Christian congregation in Corinth, Greece, about the year 55 C.E. In this letter he quoted from Isaiah, chapter twenty-five, from right after the prophecy about the banquet. Now, what does Jehovah God go on to say right after he announces the coming banquet for all the peoples? He makes another reference to “this mountain” and says these remarkable words: “And in this mountain he will certainly swallow up the face of the envelopment that is enveloping over all the peoples, and the woven work that is interwoven upon all the nations. He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for Jehovah himself has spoken it.” (Isa. 25:7, 8) For a certainty, all the nations stand to benefit by the realization of this prophecy.
19. What pertinent quotation does Paul make, and in what context?
19 Well, now, in his letter to the Corinthian congregation the apostle Paul speaks at length about the resurrection from the dead, and, when bringing his chapter of the resurrection of the spiritual Christians to a thrilling climax, Paul quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and applies it. He says: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this which is corruptible must put on incorruption, and this which is mortal must put on immortality. But when this which is corruptible puts on incorruption and this which is mortal puts on immortality, then the saying will take place that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up forever.’ ‘Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?’ The sting producing death is sin, but the power for sin is the Law. But thanks to God, for he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
20. To what time does Paul apply the fulfillment of the words quoted by him from Isaiah 25:8, and how do we figure that out?
20 Those words, written in 1 Corinthians 15:52-57, were penned in the first century of our Common Era, but the words that the writer Paul quotes, “Death is swallowed up forever,” were written in the eighth century before our Common Era. However, does the apostle Paul apply those quoted words to his own time, in the first century? No! He applies the words to the time of the “last trumpet,” which sounds after God’s kingdom, mentioned in 1Co 15 verse fifty, is established. Paul applies the words as beginning to be fulfilled at the resurrection of those who will be joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom, which resurrection takes place after Jesus Christ has come into his kingdom and turns his attention downward to this earth, where a remnant of his faithful followers and joint heirs still remain alive. (1 Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 12:1-17) In this way the apostle Paul locates the fulfillment of those words far into the future from his own day back there in the first century C.E.
21. To whose time does Paul apply the fulfillment of the quotation, and how do we know this?
21 In fact, the apostle Paul applies the time for the fulfillment of God’s promise to “swallow up death forever” to our own time. How so? Because in our time since the year 1914 C.E. we have the world conditions and events proving that God’s Messianic kingdom was born in the heavens and Jesus Christ his Son came into the kingdom in 1914, when World War I broke out and when an era of violence began that has only grown worse since that year.
22. The year 1914 marks the end of what Biblically foretold period of time, and in what way is it a favored time in which we are living?
22 In fact, the Bible’s own time schedule connects up with the dates of world history and marks the year 1914 as the date for the birth of God’s promised kingdom in the heavens. By Bible time-schedule measurements the “times of the Gentiles,” or “the appointed times of the nations,” ended in autumn of that year, and the things that Jesus Christ predicted nineteen centuries ago began being fulfilled in their foretold order. (Luke 21:5-24, AV, NW; Dan. 4:1-32; 12:1-4) So we are the ones who are living in the favored time when death must begin to be swallowed up, this miracle beginning first with the faithful dead followers of Jesus Christ who were promised a share with him in his heavenly kingdom. Revelation 20:4-6 calls theirs the “first resurrection.” As it is a resurrection to life with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom, it is a resurrection invisible to our eyes.—1 Cor. 15:50.
PLACE FOR THE BANQUET
23. Since Paul locates the time of the fulfillment of God’s promise concerning death, what else is true in consequence?
23 Something else follows as a result of the apostle Paul’s application of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning death. What? This heart-cheering fact: If the time for fulfilling this prophecy concerning the swallowing up of death has its beginning in our time, then God’s promise of a banquet for all the peoples also has its beginning in our days. This banquet promise is part of the same prophecy concerning what Jehovah God will do in “this mountain.” Hence we can begin thinking about accepting the invitation to it.
24. Since God’s kingdom is in the heavens, why is it that Isaiah 24:23 speaks of His reigning in Mount Zion and Jerusalem?
24 God’s kingdom by means of his Son Jesus Christ is in the heavens. How is it, then, that the prophecy of Isaiah 24:23 foretells that “Jehovah of armies has become king in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and in front of his elderly men with glory”? It is because the Mount Zion and the Jerusalem in which this prophecy and the next succeeding prophecy are fulfilled are not the present-day Jerusalem and Mount Zion in the Middle East, but are the heavenly Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem.
25. Of what was ancient Jerusalem, when faithful, a prophetic picture, and how does Paul show a difference between that back there and the Jerusalem of his time?
25 Ancient Jerusalem on Mount Zion, when it was a city faithful to Jehovah God and his worship, was a prophetic picture of the spiritual Jerusalem on the heavenly Mount Zion. In the Jerusalem of nineteen hundred years ago Jesus Christ was condemned to death and handed over to the Roman soldiers to be put to death on a stake, to which he was nailed. The apostle Paul shows the difference, therefore, between the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem when he writes to his fellow Christians: “The Jerusalem today . . . is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (Gal. 4:25, 26) The Jerusalem that slavishly followed its religious leaders and witnessed the murder of Jesus Christ was later destroyed in the year 70 C.E.
26. According to Hebrews 12:22-24, what is today the city of the one living and true God?
26 In this year of 1965 the city of the one living and true God is not any earthly Jerusalem, whose walls today do not even encircle earthly Mount Zion, but is the one named in Hebrews 12:22-24, where the Hebrew Christians are told: “You have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, . . . and the congregation of the first-born who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, . . . and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant.”
27. On what mountain is God’s kingdom located in Revelation 14:1-3?
27 In the last book of the Bible, which records the vision seen by the apostle John, he saw this heavenly Mount Zion and saw standing upon it the once-sacrificed Son of God, Jesus Christ, together with the faithful followers who become joint heirs with him in the kingdom: “I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. . . . the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth.” (Rev. 14:1-3) Thus on heavenly Mount Zion and in the heavenly Jerusalem Jehovah God reigns gloriously by his Son.
28, 29. (a) In what mountain, therefore, does God make the promised banquet, and where will people enjoy it? (b) How will it be possible for mankind to enjoy it there?
28 So, then, “this mountain” in which Jehovah of armies makes for all the peoples the banquet of well-oiled dishes and of refined aged wine is a heavenly mountain, symbolically speaking. Does this mean that the peoples will have to go to the invisible, spiritual heavens in order to enjoy this banquet? Will they have to leave this earth? No! Where, then, will they be able to enjoy the banquet to which they are invited? It will be right here on earth, where today so much famine, poor distribution of food supplies, hunger, undernourishment and slow starvation obtain among a rapidly growing world population. How will that be possible?
29 It will be possible because this earth, God’s creation, is the realm over which his heavenly kingdom rules. This earthly territory of God’s kingdom will never be destroyed, and the race of mankind will never have to leave it. Prophetic Psalm ninety-seven, Ps 97 verse one, says to earth’s inhabitants: “Jehovah himself has become king! Let the earth be joyful. Let the many islands rejoice.” Even despite world conditions today we can rejoice.
Accepting the Invitation to the Banquet
Accepting the Invitation to the Banquet
1, 2. (a) In what city did David rule as king over all Israel, and on whose throne did he sit? (b) Where does the one foreshadowed by King David sit ruling, and so what will be required of people on earth to enjoy the banquet?
IN FULFILLMENT of the prophecy of Isaiah 25:6 Jehovah of armies prepares the banquet for all the peoples on earth in “this mountain,” the lofty place of his heavenly kingdom. On the earthly Mount Zion of three thousand years ago, and in the city of Jerusalem of that time, King David ruled in the name of Jehovah. He represented Jehovah of armies as the real King over the nation and hence King David on Mount Zion was said to sit on “Jehovah’s throne.” David’s wise son Solomon succeeded to that throne. (1 Chron. 11:4-9; 29:23) On the heavenly Mount Zion the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was foreshadowed by King David, sits enthroned since the year 1914 C.E., sitting indeed on Jehovah’s throne, that is, at the right hand of God. (Ps. 110:1, 2; Acts 2:29-36; Rev. 3:21) By means of him God prepares the banquet.
2 For this reason, if the peoples on this earthly territory of God’s kingdom want to enjoy the banquet, they have to give their loyalty and devotion and obedience to this heavenly kingdom of God’s dear Son. In order to do this they do not have to leave the earth and go to heaven.
3. For whom has God made possible this banquet, and why do they need it?
3 Jehovah of armies has made possible this banquet for all the peoples by means of his Son Jesus Christ. How so? In this way: For almost six thousand years now all mankind have been dying, and at death they have quit eating and drinking. To eat and drink we have to live and stay in good health. In turn, to keep on living we have to eat and drink. All mankind have inherited sinfulness and death from the first man on earth, who sinned against God the Creator and brought God’s sentence of death upon himself before ever he became a father of children. (Rom. 5:12-14) Because of his rebellious sin against his Creator, the first man and his wife were driven from their perfect Paradise home in the garden of Eden, to die outside. Thus the ruining of the earth, and the famine, drought, hunger and starvation have come about as an outgrowth of man’s sinfulness. Says the Christian apostle Paul: “The wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Rom. 6:23.
4. How did God make the banquet possible by his Son and how did the Son compare himself with food?
4 In order to lift the condemnation of sin from mankind and remove its penalty death Jehovah God had his Son die sacrificially on earth as the perfect man Jesus Christ. He died childless, thus sacrificing even his right to become father to a perfect human race on earth. Long ago miraculous food sustained the life of his earthly nation for forty years when they traveled through a wilderness. Hence Jesus compared his perfect sacrifice to such food. He said: “I am the bread of life. . . . I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever; and, for a fact, the bread that I shall give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.”—John 6:48-51.
5. Where is the “bread of life” now, and so in order to eat and live forever what must the peoples of earth do?
5 Now this Son of God Jesus Christ is back in heaven and is reigning in his heavenly Father’s kingdom, in full possession of the value of his human sacrifice, the “bread of life.” Is it any wonder, then, that for the peoples of this earth to eat and live forever on earth, they have to recognize God’s kingdom on the heavenly Mount Zion? They have to accept God’s reigning Son, Jesus Christ, as their King, and they have to give him unwavering loyalty and obedience. They must do this by faith.
6. (a) Why would feeding on the “bread of life” be, in itself, a banquet? (b) What aspects are there to the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of a banquet.
6 Their feeding on the heavenly “bread of life” by means of faith would, in itself, be a feast, a banquet, if it results in everlasting life. What banquet on earth today, no matter how rich in many dishes, gives the banqueters everlasting life? But those who bow to God’s kingdom in the hands of his Son will do more than eat by means of faith. They will literally eat enjoyable earthly food to sustain that life forevermore in peace, health and happiness. Isaiah’s prophecy of a banquet has a literal aspect to it and not wholly a spiritual aspect. The loyal and obedient peoples will literally eat dishes well-oiled, “filled with marrow,” as it were, to sustain the heart and make the face shine. They will drink wine, well aged on the dregs and filtered, to make their hearts glad. (Ps. 104:14, 15) There will be no ill effects.
7. How does Psalm 72 regarding Solomon foretell the prosperous conditions on earth under the kingdom of God’s dear Son?
7 The prophecies tell of the prosperous conditions that will prevail on earth under the royal government of God’s dear Son. In the prophetic psalm regarding King Solomon it is written: “He will descend like the rain upon the mown grass, like copious showers that wet the earth. In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. And he will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow. His fruit will be as in Lebanon, and those who are from the city will blossom like the vegetation of the earth.” (Ps. 72:6-8, 16) Such a period of plenty marked the reign of King Solomon, but Jesus Christ, who was foreshadowed by Solomon, is greater than Solomon. (Matt. 12:42) Hence abundance far surpassing that of the days of King Solomon will be produced on earth under Christ’s kingdom.
PARADISE RESTORED, MADE EARTH-WIDE
8. Under the Kingdom how will the earth be changed, in accord with Jesus’ words to the sympathetic evildoer dying on the stake?
8 This abundance, which will be ample enough to satisfy the hunger and bodily needs of all mankind, will call for radical changes in the earth from what it is today. There was no want of food in the earthly Paradise in which God placed the first man and woman in their perfect, sinless condition. Under Christ’s kingdom, which reigns on the heavenly Mount Zion, that Paradise will be restored and extended to the limits of the earth. Thus it will not be too small for all mankind to live in. So there was a wonderful meaning to the words of the dying Jesus Christ, when he said to the sympathetic man who was impaled on a stake beside him on that darksome day of Nisan 14, 33 C.E.: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.”—Luke 23:43, NW; Ro.
9. What prophetic description is given of that earthwide Paradise in Psalm 65?
9 The beauty and abundance of that earth-wide paradise under God’s kingdom is beyond our imagination. A prophetic description of it is given in the sixty-fifth psalm, addressed to God in Zion. In part, it says: “You have turned your attention to the earth, that you may give it abundance; you enrich it very much. The stream from God is full of water. You prepare their grain, for that is the way you prepare the earth. There is a drenching of its furrows, a leveling off of its clouds; with copious showers you soften it; you bless its very sprouts. You have crowned the year with your goodness, and your very tracks drip with fatness. The pasture grounds of the wilderness keep dripping, and with joyfulness the very hills gird themselves. The pastures have become clothed with flocks, and the low plains themselves are enveloped with grain. They shout in triumph, yes, they sing.”—Ps. 65:1, 9-13.
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